ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AA) – Nine suspected militants were killed in fresh air strikes on Saturday in different parts of North Waziristan, officials said.

Inter Services Public Relations, the media wing of Pakistan army, said that fighter jets pounded seven militant hideouts in Mir Ali, the second largest town of North Waziristan, killing nine militants on early Saturday morning.

This has put militants’ death toll in ongoing military onslaught on the mother coalition of Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tahrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), since June 15 to over 530.

Some 31 soldiers have lost their lives since the large-scale operation began on June 15 in landmine blasts and clashes with the Taliban.

The United States, a close ally of Pakistan in its so-called war on terror, demands “tougher” action against powerful Haqqani network, a group believed to have been based in North Waziristan and blamed for a number of brazen attacks on foreign forces in Afghanistan.

Around one million displaced persons from North Waziristan have taken refuge in adjacent Bannu district and around 6,000 have crossed into Afghanistan.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AA) - Nine suspected militants were killed in fresh air strikes on Saturday in different parts of North Waziristan, officials said.
Inter Services Public Relations, the media wing of Pakistan army, said that fighter jets pounded seven militant hideouts in Mir Ali, the second largest town of North Waziristan, killing nine